Cotton-chopper.



l o. PRICKETT.

COTTON OHOPPER.

, 1911. y 1,01 5, 341 Patented Jan. 23, 1912. 3 SHEETS-BHHBT l.

lnven COLUMB A PLANDGRAPH C0 ,WASHINUTO Attorn C.- PRICKETT. COTTONHOPPER. APPLIOATION FILED JULY s, 1911.

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` Patented Jan. 23, 1912.

3 SHEETS-SH ET 3.

Witnesses y fZZ/liventor Attorneys y I GECIL PRICKETT, OF REEDING,OKLAHOMA.

co'rfroN-cnorrna.

Application filed July 5 1911.. Serial o.' 636,891.

T o all whom it may concern:l j n Be it known that I, CEGIL PRIGKETT, a

citizen of the United States, residing atk Reeding, in the county ofKingfisher and State of Oklahoma, have invented a new and usefulCotton-Chopper, `of whichl the following is a specification.

This invention relates to improvements in cotton choppers, the primaryobject ofthis invention being the provision of a` wheeled frame providedwith traction `operated scraping and chopping bladesand Vmeans foi`regulating the action ofvsaid chopping blades so that they may be movedto` a greater or less degree 'accordingto ing crop. 1 A r j Anotherobject of this invention" is the provision of a pair offco-acting springre turned scraping and chopping blades proL `vided with means foroperating the saine,

and for limiting the" movement of said blades to and from each other.

A still further object of the invention` is the provision of a wheeledcottonchopper having mechanism operably connected with the tractionwheels for reriprocating a cam device which automatically separates twoco-acting spring-actuated chopping blades,

the chopping blades being furtherv provided with manually vcontrolledVmeans for limiting the separation of said chopping blades.`

`With the foregoing and other objectsin view, which will appearasvthek-description proceeds, the invention resides yin the combinationand arrangement of parts and in the details of construction hereinafterdescribed and claimed, it being understood that` changes in the preciseembodiment of finvention herein disclosed can be made within "the scopeof what is claimed without de-i parting from the spirit of theinvention.V

In the drawings,-Figure 1 is aside ele? vation of the complete machine,onek ofthe wheels being removed to clearly sho-w the construction of theframe and operating parts. Fig. 2 is a' topplan view offthe completemachine. Fig. 43 is ank .enlarged perspective view of' the choppingbladecarrying arms and a portion ofthe adjacent operating mechanism.Fig. 4 is a detailed' the grow-` presently appear.

for thefchopping blades. Fig. 5 is a per- Specification of Letters'Patent.' j Patented'Jan. 23,1912. y

view of the adjustable wedge plate` device i spective view of theseparating means for said rchopping blades.

Referring to the drawings the numeralflf designates theA tractionVwheels which support the machine and are mounted upon the rotatableaxle, 2, which is journaled inthe supports or boxing 3 carrying the sulperstructure'or frame 4c connected at its rearV endv by the cross pieceor seat-carrying frame' 5. EXtending forwardly of `the axle. and',

sof

carriedbyxthefframefare. the two parallel bars 6 which are connected tothe transverse` bars 7 havingA Vthe downwardly and out-1 wardly,projecting arms/8 to which are connectedtheA forward endsof the twoparallel strips or bars 9 between the forwardprojecting ends'9,thepurp'ose of which will The rear ends of the bars ori plates 9 areconnected together by means ofthe rod or shaft 10, `while in ordertorbrace'said shafuand hold it in the proper relative position to theframe there are pro` vided two inclined braces 11, which rhave theirupper ends connected to the journal boXes'of the frame. L f

The y, frame carrying r`the scraperI blades has its main bars orvplates12 pivoted at their forward ends to the shaftior rod 10 betweeny theterminals of the bars,A 9 hand bracesh 11 as clearly shown in Fig. 1. Inorder-that said bars 12v may ber raisedor lowered lindependently forwork upon a hillside, Athe'arm 13 is vconnected thereto interwhich vmaybeheld atany desired adjustf 'position of said frame for work upon theplains or on hillsides.` ,A

Connected to the rear free Aends kof the frame 12 are the angle bracketsor arms 18, which are connected together by means of the transverse baror plate 19, whilesecured 85 1 mediate vof theirlends and has" a linlr`14 connected -to theshortarm 15 of the` lever'lG to the inner faces ofsaid angles 18 is the plate 20 which is spaced above the plate 19 andparallel thereto and provides a slot for the movement of the twospring-actuated scraper-carrying arms 21V and 21, which are preventedfrom moving too far toward each other by means of the block 20 mountedbetween the respective plates 19 and 20. The springs 100 normally holdthe said arms 21 and 21 toward the block 20.

The forward free ends 22 and 22 of the straight arms 21 are pivoted forlateral or transverse movement to the arms 8 as at 23 and normally'assume the position as shown in Figs. 1, 2 and 3 of the drawings.Connected to the arms 21 are the two pairs of plates 24 and 24 which areconnected at 25 and 25', respectively, so that the said inner plates arespaced apart and provide the abutting portion at a and b-J, while therear free end of the said arms 21 are twisted as at 26 terminating inthe terminals 27 for the adjustable and removable reception of thescraper or chopping blades 28, which are disposed substantially as shownin F ig. 3 and adapted for lateral movement to chop in and aro-und theplants and at the same time cut the earth at an angle as they moveforwardly.

A shaft 29 is journaled in the two free ends 9 of the bars 9 and isprovided with a crank 30 to which is pivotally connected the forward endof the pitman or rod 34, while adapted to transmit motion to the shaft29 is a sprocket wheel 31, connected through the means of the sprocketchain 32 to the large sprocket wheel 33 keyed upon the shaft 2 of themachine. By this means it will be seen that as the shaft 2 is rotated bythe traction wheel 1, the sprocket chain 32 rotates the shaft 29 andthereby imparts to the pitman or rod 34 a reciprocating movement.

Pivoted tothe free end of the pit-man 34 and guided between therespective` arms 24 vand 24 is a plate 35, provided, upon opposite sidesthereof and centrally thereof in line with the pitman, with the twocamshaped lugs or wedges 36 and 37, which are adapted to be brought intoand out of engagement with the respective plates 24 and 24 at the pointa-cz thereby pressing upon said plates to spread the arms 21 against thetension of the springs 100. It will thus be seen that the continuedrotation of the shaft 29 will reciprocate the plate 35 and with it thecam lugs 36 and 37, and thereby impart with the co-action of the springs100, a transverse reciprocating.movement to the respective arms 21 and21 and their scrapers 28.

In order to limit the movement of the scrapers 28 at will, the lever 39is pivoted to the rear free end of the frame 12 and has its other freeend disposed below the guide 40 carried upon the upper face of the otherframe 12, and is further provided with a foot piece 45 in operablerelation to the seat 5, so that the operator may at will, push or pullthe said rod 39 and with it, its arm 41, which has mounted thereon aplate 42 which is adapted to tit between the respective pairs of plates24 and 24 and have its respective cam lugs or wedges 43 and 44 engagethe upper and lower' plate 5 5, respectively, and thereby hold theplates 21 spaced so that the action of the plate 35 will be limited andthe chopping blades 28 will only be given a slight movement against thetension of the springs 100. By this means it will be seen that thechopping and scraping action is entirely under the control of theoperator and that the chopping action may be operated to do heavy orlight work by the manipulation of the pivoted bar or rod 39.

It will be noted that the forward ends of the arms 12 are pivoted to theshaft 10, whereby their rear ends are permitted a loose or free up anddown movement, and that as each arm is pivoted individually to saidshaft 10, each is permitted a movement which will impart to therespective ends 18 of the transverse bar 19 and the two arms 21 and 21,a tilting movement, whereby the cutting blades 28 may have their angleschanged relatively to each other. This action is permitted through themedimn of the individual levers 16 and the lilik 14.

In order to swing the machine to permit it to enter the next. parallelrow, a fixed segmental gear 46 is mounted upon the bar i while thebearing 47 is mounted at the rear of a tongue 48, which is pivoted at 48to the transverse bar 48". A shaft 5() at its forward end engages thelng 47 and also a lug 49 having mounted therebetween a pinion 51 whichis in mesh at all times with the geared segment 46. In order to permitthe tongue 48 to swing at right angles, the rear end of the shaft 50 istiexibly connected as at 51 to the long shaft 52, and its rear end isprovided with the steering or turning wheel 53, which is disposed inoperable relation to the driver seated at 5. By this means it will beseen that the rotation of the wheel 53 will rotate the gear 51 andconsequently its engagement with the geared segment 46 will cause thetongue 48 to be turned and give in effect a steering means so that thetraction wheels 1 may be turned in a shorter space and the draft animalsmay continue in a forward instead of a sidewise direction as it usuallyhappens in passing from one row into the next.

It will thus be seen that by providing a machine of this character thetwo co-acting chopping blades are controlled at will for vmanipulzlttionand thatvthey are continually* separated and moved toward each otherthrough the operation of the pitman "34 and the cam plate 35 combinedwith the springs 100.

Vhat is claimed is f 1. In a cotton chopper, the combination of a`frame, tract-ion wheels journaled therein,

a pair of spring-actuated lchopper-blade-` a pair of spring-actuatedchopper-blade# carrying arms normally held toward yeach other, meansoperably connected to the traction wheels for intermittently separatingsaid arms, individual means `for changing the relative vertical positionof the Lfree ends of the chopper bladey arms, and' means for regulatingthe separation of said arms.

3. In a cotton chopper, thejcombination of a frame, an axle journaledtherein, a pair of traction wheels for operating said aXle, a crankshaft journaledin the forward end of the frame,.twochopper-blade-carrying arms pivoted at their forward ends to the frameand mounted for transverse sepa-l ration, means for changing therelative vertical position of the free ends `of saidlarms, meansopei'ably connecting said kcrank shaft to the aXle, and means operatedby said crank shaft for imparting to the chopperblade-carrying arms atransverse movement.

1l. In a cotton chopper, the combination of a frame, traction wheelsjournaled therein, a crank shaft mounted in lthe forward portion of theframe and operably connected to said traction wheels, apair of springpressed chopper-bladecarrying arms pivotally mounted at their forward`ends for movement toward'and away from each other, i means for changingthe relative vertical pol sition of thefree ends vof said armsand areciprocating wedge operably connected to the crank shaft and to saidarms for separating said arms against the tension of the springsthereof. p

5. In a cotton chopper, the combination of a frame, traction wheels journaled therein, a crank shaftmoimted in Athe forward portion of theframe and operably-connected to said traction wheels, a pair of spring.pressed cliopper-blade-carrying arms pivotally mounted at their` forwardends for movement toward and away from each other, means for changingthe relative vertical position of the endsV of said arms, areciprocating wedge operably `connected to the crank shaft and to saidarms for separating said "arms against the tension ofthespringsVthereofyand means for regulating the separation of the arms.

6. In a cotton chopper,

a crank shaft mount-ed in'the forwardv por- ,tion of the frame andoperably connected to Ysaid traction wheels, fa pair 'of spring' pressed'chopper-blade-carrying arms pivotmovement `toward "and away from eachother,lmeans for changing the relative ver-i ticalposition of ythe endsof .said arms, a, reciprocating wedge operably connected to the crankshaft and to saidl arms for separating said varms against the tension ofthe springsy "thereof, and manually operated.

means forregulating the separationof said arms. i

7 Iny a cotton chopper, the combination vof a frame, traction wheelsjournaled therein, a crank shaft mounted in the forward vportion of theframe and operably connected to said traction wlieels,1a pair of springpressed chopper-blade-carrying arms pivotally ,mounted at their forwardends Aforfmovement toward and away from each other, means for changingthe relative vertical `position of the ends of said arms,jareciprocating wedge operably connected to the crank shaft and to saidVarms' forseparatring said armsnag'ainst .the tension of the springsthereof, and a 'manually controlled wedge operating in opposition to thereciprocating wedgeto regulate the separation of the arms.

"8. 'In a cotton chopper,` the .combination n with a frame, tractionwheels journaled (therein, a `Kcrank shaft operably connected uto saidtraction wheels, two chopper-bladey carrying arms mounted to the frameat their y p the combination of a frame, ltraction wheelsjournaledtherein,

ally.v mounted Tat theirforward ends foi' forward-ends for co-actingtransverse movement, springs' for normally holding the free 'ends ofsaid arms toward eachother, a pitman'` connected to the crank shaft,anda sliding plate provided with wedges {oppositely ,disposed ybetweensaid arms for separating they arms against the action of 1the springs. e

9. In fa :cotton chopper, the combination with `a Yframe, tractionwheels ournaled therein,.a crank shaft 7operaloly connected tosaidtraction'wheels, two chopper-bladecarrying arms mounted to theAframe at their forward ends for co-acting transverse movement, springsfor normally holding the free ends of said arms toward Veach other, aVpitman connected to the crank shaft, a sliding plate-provided withwedgesfoppositely disposed betweeny said arms for separating the armsagainst the action of the springs, and

means for regulating the separation of th arms. f r

10. In acotton chopper, the combination manually operated Wedgepivotally co11- nected at the rear of said arms and disposed inopposition to the pitman actuated Wedge.

In testimony that I claim the foregoing as my own, I have hereto aiiiXedmy signature in the presence of two Witnesses.

CECIL PRICKETT.

Witnesses THEO. STANFORD, CARL PRICKETT.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for iive cents each, by addressingthe Commissioner of Patents, Washington, D. G.

